Living in Paris after World War II, Judith Jones broke free of bland American food and reveled in everyday French culinary delights. On returning to the States she published Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Jones then discovered, with her husband Evan, the delights of American food, and published the work of such premier culinary luminaries as James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, and Lidia Bastianich. Her memoir of this food-inspired career includes 50 of Jones' favorite recipes, each with its own story and special tips.

"An entire generation of women (including me) learned to cook from Julia Child's books. And for that we have Judith Jones to thank. Judith was the first to champion Julia's brilliant career, as well as many others who have changed the world of food."—Ina Garten

"The title of this testament to one woman's appetite comes from Brillat-Savarin, who wrote of a 10th muse—Gasterea, goddess of the pleasures of taste. Many food writers would argue that this 10th muse is actually Judith Jones.... In this quiet, spare memoir, set against the shifting landscape of modern cookery in America, Jones reveals herself to be every bit as evangelical about good food and honest cooking as her authors, locating the points where her relationships with these writer-gastronomes and her own gustatory education converged. She ran an illegal restaurant in Paris, learned from Julia Child to de-tendon a goose (a set of maneuvers involving a broomstick), received a tutorial in fresh-bagged squirrel from Edna Lewis and counted James Beard among her mentors.... Jones's belief in the primordial importance of cooking well is ultimately inspiring, and it fires these pages as it has fired her life."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)